Thursday, December 20, 2018

Our colleague Bernie Brown seems to be missing once again. He was to be
at his room today to get help in assembling a new bed. For whatever
reason, it is believed he was not there. Friends are asking if you have
seen Bernie on Tuesday evening, December 18, or Wednesday, December 19.
Please let me know if you have seen Bernie.

Israel Anti-Boycott Act would extend "U.S. legal protection
to the very settlements the U.S. has opposed as illegitimate and harmful to the
cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace for more than 50 years," the senators
write

U.S.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday urged
congressional leaderships not to include in a must-pass spending bill a
measure that would suppress free speech rights by criminalizing boycotts of
Israel.

"While
we do not support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, we
remain resolved to our constitutional oath to defend the right of every
American to express their views peacefully without fear of or actual punishment
by the government," the senators wrote (pdf) to Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
(D-N.Y.).

Kate
Ruane, senior legislative counsel at the ACLU, wrote last week that while the new
iteration leaves out possible jail time as punishment "for American
companies to participate in political boycotts aimed at Israel and its
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories when those boycotts were
called for by international governmental organizations like the United
Nations," the legislation still represents "a full-scale attack on
Americans' First Amendment freedoms," as violators could still face
criminal financial penalties of up to $1 million.

"Even
as amended," adds Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine
director for Human Rights Watch, "the bill would impose fines on American
companies, nonprofits, and their representatives for refusing on human rights
grounds to do business in settlements." He continues:

Yet firms operating in Israeli
settlements both benefit from and contribute to serious violations of
international humanitarian law and human rights law, and the bill would mean
those acting to end complicity in serious abuses—the only way they can meet
their responsibilities under the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights—could find themselves guilty of a crime.

In
their letter to Senate leadership, Sanders and Feinstein note that the measure
would extend "U.S. legal protection to the very settlements the United
States has opposed as illegitimate and harmful to the cause of
Israeli-Palestinian peace for more than 50 years."

"At
a time when the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government is
pursuing policies clearly aimed at foreclosing the two-state solution, it is
deeply disappointing that Congress would consider choosing to penalize
criticism of those policies," they continue.

Responding
to reporting about the new letter on Twitter, U.S.-based anti-occupation group
IfNotNow urged Schumer to see the call to reject "this horrific bill"
as "what leadership looks like."

"Will
u advocate for free speech or bend to the will of Jewish establishments?"
the group asked.

"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs